Bored

If it's a small dog thing, why were my dogs never picky?

And to go with smaller dogs, one of my good friends has a 4 lb Chihuahua who will eat ANYTHING.

Another close friend (I spend a lot of time at her house) has Chinese Cresteds that weigh between 5 and 14 lbs as adults. They eat the same kibble every day, and eat it happily. They do get treats and fresh foods, but not on top of their kibble.

I will likely continue to have small dogs. A show potential Crested is in the plans, for me (planned breeding next year). I surely hope I never get an inherently super picky dog. It'll starve, around here.

I'd consider the Cockers small. They're not much bigger than Em, are they? She's 20 lbs. I know I groom some monster Cockers, but the champion I groom is pretty small. 

jennie_c_d

If it's a small dog thing, why were my dogs never picky?

And to go with smaller dogs, one of my good friends has a 4 lb Chihuahua who will eat ANYTHING.

Another close friend (I spend a lot of time at her house) has Chinese Cresteds that weigh between 5 and 14 lbs as adults. They eat the same kibble every day, and eat it happily. They do get treats and fresh foods, but not on top of their kibble.

 

I will likely continue to have small dogs. A show potential Crested is in the plans, for me (planned breeding next year). I surely hope I never get an inherently super picky dog. It'll starve, around here.

 I'm not at all suggesting that I'm a superior pet owner... Geez. I've just never experienced a picky dog (and I've had more than two.... those are just the two small dogs that I kept, long term). I mentioned, in my above post, a tiny Chi and about 20 Chinese Cresteds who scarf whatever's put in front of them. Glenda bred Cockers, and hers weren't picky, either. It has to have something to do with something. Picking up the food always worked, for me. I've had a good few foster dogs, and five personal pet dogs that I lived with day in and day out. I've never bred a dog. I haven't been to vet school, or behaviorist school, and I haven't had dogs for a quadzillion years. I'm just me...


 

My two small dogs aren't picky. Both will eat pretty much anything, Ginger's just not allowed to due to her megaesophagus. I don't think I've done anything to make them not picky...I had Jules since he was a pup and he's always eaten well.  As with all of the dogs, any food not finished at the end of the meal is taken up. Ginger came to me as a food hound....unless she's sick, food is never left over

Legend isn't really picky..he just dislikes eating most times. He's been that way since he was a puppy. No matter the brand, there are days he ends up with his bowl picked up for the night. While he does get tidbits, raw bones, veggies, etc as extras once in awhile, I never put it in his kibble. He's even been known to abandon his beloved recreational bones now and then.  I do rotate brands now and then, but only after a bag has run out. 

I don't understand why this has to be an issue.  Period.  I made a clear point that I'm not being critical of anyone who has picky dogs, just that it is beyond my comprehension.

My nieces CHI ate any and everything.  I'm assuming a chi counts as a small dog?

I guess I'm not getting why folks have to get so combative about their dogs eating habits.  Maybe it is a tiny dog thing.....but to say that a  twenty pound dog is not small?  Gosh, that means anything from what?  ten to fifty pounds is medium?  That's quite a weight range.  Regardless, I've never had a picky eater, no matter what size, so I do find it difficult to understand.  That doesn't make ME some sort of monster picking on anyone else.

Well as an owner of two 8lb dogs, I don't think you can put a 20 lb dog in the same category as the toy sized breeds.  That is like saying that a 25 lb beagle and and a 65 lb weimeraner are in the same size category.  There are health and behavioral concerns that are specific to tiny dogs so they are not the same.  Zoe WILL get bored of eating the same kibble day after day, and after eating a certain brand with gusto for a month or two, she starts to lose interest.  I don't see anything wrong with switching it up now and then to keep things exciting.  As long as I am not picking up the bowl and adding toppers and such when she refuses to eat, I don't see what the big deal is.  She doesn't have any particular health concerns that prevent her from eating a variety of foods so for what reason should I force her to eat the same thing day after day?

 All I'm saying is that small dogs have less taste buds than big dogs, which is a fact. Food can taste blander for them. Of course not all small dogs are finicky about food, but there does seem to be a trend with small dogs and pickiness.

When I got my bichon at 8 weeks old she would not eat her food. How is that a learned behavior? I only had her for a few days and I already figured out that she didn't like dog food.  Thats just how she is, and a lot of dogs are that way. 

My neighbor has a super-picky peke that only eats certain pieces of kibble out of her dish (she feeds kibbles n bits and so the kibbles are different). She is one of those people that think people food is bad and so ONLY feeds her dog the dog food, nothing else, and the dog still is picky. She definately didn't teach it to be that way, because the dog has been on the same food all its life. Thats just the way the dog is.

 And I definately don't agree with taking food away from a dog and offering it to them later if they don't eat it. Why make them eat something they don't want to? Eating is one of life's pleasures, and so I will rotate my dog's food as often as it takes if it means she'll eat. Really, I only need a few different brands of food that she'll eat and all I have to do is switch them up after each bag.
 

Sorry, it isn't taste buds, its olfactory receptors, (which greatly influences the taste of the food, and explains why I got the two mixed up). Smaller dogs have fewer olfactory receptors than bigger dogs, which is why they may not like the taste of something that another dog would.

 I read that from the Royal Canin website. Thats why their "mini" line foods are so palatable, b/c they know small dogs cannot taste as well.
 

jennie_c_d

It'll starve, around here.

Here too.  Our cats have tried hunger strikes to no avail.  Once after finishing a too large back of cat food up we went and bought a fresh bag of the same brand, same flavor, everything--they refused to eat it.  the formula had not changed, so the only thing we could figure is that the last bag had gotten a bit stale at the end, and they had gotten used to the taste, and were now not wanting to eat the fresh cat food.  They pouted for a couple days, then got over it and ate the food.

There are many things DH will tolerate with the dogs.  He's OK with all the different foods because of Sally's allergies.  He's cool with Jack's special arthritis diet requirements and his list if supplements.  However, I doubt he'd be as patient with a dog that just decided one day that it's food sucked.  I guess we'll stay with large breeds..... 

jettababy

Sorry, it isn't taste buds, its olfactory receptors, (which greatly influences the taste of the food, and explains why I got the two mixed up). Smaller dogs have fewer olfactory receptors than bigger dogs, which is why they may not like the taste of something that another dog would.

 I read that from the Royal Canin website. Thats why their "mini" line foods are so palatable, b/c they know small dogs cannot taste as well.

Gee, I thought I had read about everything from Royal Canin (they have some good technical articles) ... but I don't recall coming across this piece of info about the olfactory receptors. Can you point me in the direction of an article on their website ...?

This certainly would explain my dogs' food reactions ... and Royal Canin certainly know a thing or two about how to make kibble smell/taste appealing. They have one formula called Mini Sensible which absolutely stinks to high heaven LOL - when you open the bag, it's like sitting next to an offal pit. Guess which kibble my guys come galloping for! Unfortunately, it's very high in fat (22% min.) so too much is not a good thing with sensitive GI tracts. But I'm sure the high fat content (fat carries flavor) adds to the pongy attraction of this food.